AudienceCS 642 is an
introduction to Information security. The course covers a broad
range of topics.

General DescriptionShared resources (such as the Internet) have created a global and open information
infrastructure. A global infrastructure has several advantages, such as ease of
sharing information. However, shared resources also increase the risk due to
malicious behavior. Information security is the area that deals with protection
from and detection of malicious activity. This course will follow the general
structure given below.

Cryptographic primitives: This part of the course will focus on cryptographic
primitives. We will cover the following topics: Symmetric-key and public-key encryption,
hash functions, and digital signatures.

Protocols: This part of the course will focus on protocols that use the
primitives introduced earlier. Some of the protocols we will consider are
key establishment protocols (Kerberos and Diffie-Hellman secret sharing),
web security (Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)), secure payment protocols (1KP and
Cybercash), and Digital money (DigiCash).

System security: This part of the course will focus on system security.
We will discuss some common system vulnerabilities and attacks, such as TCP SYN
flooding and denial-of-service attacks. We will discuss general architecture of
firewalls and intrusion detection systems.

Special topics: This part of the course will focus on new topics in
security. This year we will discuss smartcards and their applications.

MaterialCourse notes and papers distributed by instructor and the following
required text: